Where does mental illness come from? Do we inherit it in our genes? Is it caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain? Can we blame the family we grew up in, our culture, social forces, traumatic experiences, global events? All of these things can affect our mental health. Shirley Smith was obsessed by her family tree. Here, the impressive collection of miniatures from the Wallace Collection is imagined as a family tree of mental health diagnoses. The tree stands in a landscape of potential causes. We all exhibit some traits that could be pathologised. The face in the bark? Well, that’s me.

Grayson Perry